Review of Indigenous Dengue Fever Epidemic and Responses in Tainan City, 2015

Review of Indigenous Dengue Fever Epidemic and Responses in Tainan City, 2015

Dengue is one of the most important mosquito-borne viral disease in the world. Outbreaks exert a huge burden on populations, health systems and economies in most tropical countries. In 2015, Tainan city encountered the most severe indigenous dengue fever outbreak. The epidemic began on May 21 when the first case was confirmed. Facing many background challenges, all government units worked together to control the dengue epidemic which reached to the highest peak in the 37th week and ended on February 15, 2016. The dengue epidemic had lasted for 37 weeks and caused 22,765 cases. This article describes the magnitude of the epidemic of indigenous dengue fever started from the summer of 2015 in Tainan, the process of control strategies and experiences, including integration of resources, administrative block control, breeding sites cleaning and application of NS1 rapid test screening. As a reference, these experiences may provide excellent recommendations for the future.